Bold Girls

Ever since its debut performance in Cumbernauld in 1991, the popularity of Rona Munro’s Bold Girls has snowballed, becoming a central piece of Scottish theatre. Cumbernauld Theatre Trust was reaching its third decade living in a row of eighteenthcentury cottages and the venue had become the regular home for the works of well-known figures from the world of theatre and music who were renowned for developing distinctly political works. These artists included the legendary 7:84 company who, under the direction of Lynne Parker, first staged Bold Girls at the Cottage Theatre.

Set in West Belfast during the Troubles in 1991, Bold Girls follows Marie, Cassie, and Nora – determined to get on with their lives despite the bombs, the soldiers, and their husbands being either locked away or killed. That is, until a mysterious young woman turns up on Marie’s doorstep, disrupting their girls’ night out and bringing devastating revelations that threaten to leave their friendships changed forever. Rona Munro spent time in West Belfast delivering drama workshops and researching for the play, originally commissioned as a broader focus on women’s experiences in Ireland over centuries. It was during the writer’s time in Belfast that she became acutely aware of these women’s day-to-day lives and the effect the Troubles was having on them, choosing to instead focus the work on their lived experiences.

Touring Scotland that same year, Bold Girls also appeared at London’s Hampstead Theatre with a cast including Imelda Staunton and Catherine Cusack. Munro won the Evening Standard’s Most Promising Playwright Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, and the play eventually became part of the Scottish school curriculum. In later years Bold Girls was staged throughout Scotland, London, Melbourne and USA (Sacramento and Los Angeles). It returned to its original home in Cumbernauld in a 1999 production at Cumbernauld Theatre directed by then-Artistic Director Simon Sharkey. The play was more recently performed in 2018 at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, led by Richard Baron. Sharply funny, moving, yet never shying from the harsh realities of life during the Troubles, Bold Girls is a celebration of women’s strength under siege.

Nora Pauline Goldsmith
Marie Julie Martis
Cassie Leigh Lothian
Dierdre Katya Searle

Writer Rona Munro
Director Michael Duke
Set, Lighting and Costume Design Kai Fischer
Sound Designer Adam Tucker

Production Manager Dave Shea
Technical Manager Matt Nevans
Stage Manager Jillian Walls / Christine Moffat
Assistant Stage Manager Claire Semple-Gallacher
Technical Stage Manager Chris Ferrie
Wardrobe Supervisor Sophie Malcolm

Producer Amanda Glover
Executive Producer Kate Nelson

Photography by Greg Macvean